Performing their song "Bird of Pray," Ukrainian band Ziferblat passed the Eurovision semi-finals on May 13, qualifying Ukraine for the grand final on May 17.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on May 15 for direct peace talks with Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov will likely represent Russia.
The move follows Ukraine's ratification of the minerals agreement, deepening U.S.-Ukraine economic ties and signaling expanded U.S. involvement in Ukraine's long-term recovery.
"Ukraine has initiated a coordinated campaign to vilify Hungary in order to undermine our initiative to hold a poll on (Kyiv's) EU membership," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
"Our people are going to be going there," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that further concessions from Ukraine during negotiations would be unreasonable if Russia continues to attack civilian targets.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, will travel to Istanbul for possible peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reported on May 13, citing three undisclosed sources.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a major industrial and logistical hub, remains untouched by ground incursions but is under growing threat.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak said Ukraine is "ready to discuss anything," but "only if a ceasefire is achieved."
Ukrainian military operations have destroyed 15 Russian warships in the Black Sea and damaged 12 others since the start of the full-scale invasion, Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk reported on Nov. 17.
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian forces have repeatedly struck ships from the Black Sea Fleet, causing what U.K. Armed Forces Minister James Heappey characterized as a "functional defeat" of Russia's naval forces in the Black Sea.
"We can count the ones that have already been taken out of action. These are 15 destroyed and 12 damaged ships. Not all of this is the result of our drones, but they have also caused quite a lot of damage to ships," Pletenchuk said on television.
Pletenchuk also said that Ukraine is now a "driver of this new type of naval warfare," showing "a new level of application of unmanned systems." He also said that Ukraine has a separate drone brigade that uses both surface and underwater unmanned systems for reconnaissance, mine clearance, and strikes.
According to the General Staff's latest report, Russia has lost 22 ships and boats since the beginning of its all-out war against Ukraine.
Earlier in October, the "Pavel Derzhavin," a patrol ship from Russia's Black Sea Fleet, was damaged by an explosion, Pletenchuk told the Ukrainian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Pletenchuk said he could not discuss more details about the incident nor the extent of the damage but confirmed there had been explosions and subsequent damage.

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